Home > Is Sarkozy going too far?
Edito France FR - Presidential 2007
As the election draws closer, Nicolas Sarkozy pushes further the conservative, right-wing agenda that has made him famous as interior minister. The man who once used to dub youths from disadvantaged suburbs "scum", promised to clean crime-ridden neighbourhoods with a "Kärcher" industrial pressure cleaner and forced a publishing house to cancel the launch of a biography of his wife Cécilia is at it again.
Last month,he promised to establish a ministry of immigration and national identity if he was elected. The idea met fierce criticism from left-wing candidates, including Ségolène Royal, and centrist leader François Bayrou.
When he had to wait for a few minutes before a make-up artist was available to touch him up before a TV talk show on March 18, he threatened to "fire" the management of government-owned TV channel France 3 if he was elected.
A book by former minister for equal opportunities Azouz Begag, to be published this week, quotes Sarkozy as telling him: "I’ll smash your face in."
Last week, in an interview with Philosophie Magazine, he said: "For my part, I would tend to believe that peadophiles are born that way, and it is a problem that we do not know how to heal that disease. There are 1,200 to 1,300 young people who commit suicide in France every year. This is not because their parents have taken good care of them, but because, genetically, they had a weakness, a pre-existing pain."
Nicolas Sarkozy’s foreign policy conference - photo Thomas HubertLast year, as interior minister, he had suggested that lists of turbulent kindergarten children should be drawn up as they were more likely to become criminals when they grow up.
The interview caused uproar across the French political spectrum. Communist candidate Marie-George Buffet answered Sarkozy’s genetic theory with a quote from Paris archbishop: "Human beings are born free."
Sarkozy’s increasingly conservative stance seems to have boosted his poll results in the past two weeks. But it is also creating increased animosity from those who are not planning to vote for him.
When you manage to bring together a communist and an archbishop against you, there is a risk of alienating a large part of the population.
During France’s Six Nations rugby match against Wales in the Stade de France, Sarkozy attended and his face appeared briefly on the big screens, prompting immediate boos and whistles from the crowd.
When he walked through the Gare du Nord train station on March 28, the day after severe disturbance shook the area, passers by shouted abuse. He has also been unable to campaign in poorer neighbourhoods because of security concerns, while other candidates visit them regularly.
Voters who think the next president should appease the tensions that are threatening to tear French society apart will think twice before using a Sarkozy ballot.